Give the Devil His Duke by Anna Bradley

Author:Anna Bradley [Bradley, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2023-04-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

“May I help you to tea, Your Grace? I daresay you’re fatigued after coming all this way from London.”

Tea. Her mother had just offered tea to the Duke of Basingstoke.

“Thank you, Lady Stanhope. Tea would be delight—”

“No!” There would be no tea, and no delight. Not while she was here to put a stop to it.

“Francesca!” Her mother stared at her, appalled.

Franny’s cheeks heated. “I mean, er, what I meant to say, Mother, is I’m certain whatever brings the duke to Ashwell won’t permit him to make a long visit. Isn’t that right, Your Grace?”

“Not at all, Lady Francesca. Indeed, I have important business in Ashwell, and I intend to remain here for as long as it takes to bring it to a successful conclusion. Weeks, if necessary.” The duke gave her his most maddening smile. “I am a trifle parched, after the drive. I’d be delighted to join you for tea, Lady Stanhope. You’re very kind.”

“Wonderful.” Her mother smiled. “Do sit down, Your Grace.”

Incredibly, he had the gall to accept her mother’s invitation. He took the place on the settee closest to the fire—her mother’s place, the villain—crossed his long legs, and sat there chatting politely about the journey from London and the weather in Herefordshire, as if it were perfectly normal for a duke to happen down a remote cow path deep in the country, and pop inside for a bit of refreshment.

“You became acquainted with Francesca while she was in London, I presume, Your Grace?” her mother asked, passing him a cup of tea.

Franny jumped in before he could utter a word. “His Grace is a passing acquaintance. Nothing more.” A passing acquaintance she’d dreamed about kissing, yes, but that was neither here nor there.

“Would you call it merely a passing acquaintance, Lady Francesca? It was more than that, I think.”

Had he just fluttered his eyelashes at her? Why, what did the man mean, fluttering at her like a coquette at a country fair? She gritted her teeth. “I would call it a passing acquaintance, Your Grace, if even that.”

He took a small sip of his tea. With every brush of his beautiful, ducal lips against the edge of her mother’s faded rose-patterned teacup, Franny’s temper was rising. At least, her temperature was. It was wretchedly warm in here.

His full, firm lips pursed in a pout that made heat flood her cheeks. “I rather hoped you looked upon me as a gentleman, er . . . friend, my lady.”

A gentleman friend? Young ladies didn’t have gentlemen friends, they had gentleman callers. Dear God, did he mean to imply he was—

“As it happens, Lady Stanhope, my mother is well acquainted with Lady Crump, so your daughter and I were quite thrown together these past weeks. Calls, promenades, a musical evening, dancing together at balls—”

No, her feelings for him weren’t at all friendly. “We danced once, Your Grace. Once.”

“Ah, but it was a memorable dance, was it not, my lady?”

He gazed at her, and let out a long, deep sigh—a lovelorn sigh, as if he was .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.